Paisley-born singer- songwriter Gerry Rafferty has died aged 63 after a long illness. Rafferty will be best remembered, with Joe Egan, as one half of Stealers Wheel, whose single ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ would later soundtrack the Quentin Tarrantino film Reservoir Dogs.
His solo career produced ‘Baker Street’ which with its distinctive saxophone theme would be the most memorable of his singles, although his early career actually included a stint in The Humblebums, alongside a pre-comedy Billy Connolly.
He continued to record up until the turn of the millennium, though his most significant musical achievement in his later career may well have been producing the Proclaimers’ 1987 hit ‘Letter from America’. Sadly, the only significant mark he would make in later life would be when the story of his apparent ‘disappearance’ in 2008 made the tabloids – that and occasional reports of his ill health and battle with alcohol.

• Gerald Rafferty: born 16 April 16th 1947; died January 4th 2011